From the end of May to August 8, 2116, the Romance Restaurant of Shu sold 1111 copies of snail meat dishes. Due to improper operation in the process of cooking these cold snail meat and spicy snail meat, the heating time of Ampullaria gigas was insufficient, and all the Angiostrongylus cantonensis lodged in Ampullaria gigas were not killed, which led to a large number of consumers who ate Ampullaria gigas contracting Angiostrongylus cantonensis, and 161 people were diagnosed with Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Beijing Hospital, and 138 people were confirmed by health supervision institutions. This is the sensational "Pomacea snail incident". Through the crisis of the romance of Shu, we should at least pay attention to the following three problems.

Alert: the catering industry is facing the crisis of the whole industry

Before the romance of Shu, the crisis of the catering industry occurred one after another, as if it were endless. The catering industry in China is really hot and noisy, which makes the enterprises anxious, the media anxious, the consumers chilling, and the people all over the country worried and scolded these people for having no conscience.

in fact, apart from the above-mentioned major crises that have aroused widespread concern, the catering industry is more of a small crisis. For example, at noon one day many years ago, my colleagues and I went to a small restaurant for dinner. My colleague ordered a fried egg with leek. When I took the first bite, I vaguely felt that the taste of leek was a bit wrong, and it seemed a bit "spoiled", but I was still not sure. Therefore, I said nothing and continued to work hard. At the second bite, the feeling of "rancid" seemed to disappear again, but the third bite seemed to have it again. I began to wonder if I didn't feel right, not if there was something wrong with chives. But I still have doubts about the quality of leek. When the whole dish was "destroyed" by about two-thirds, I suddenly felt that chives had a strong "bad taste". At this time, I can finally be sure of my own judgment, and I immediately said it. Unexpectedly, my colleagues and I have the same judgment and "psychological process". Therefore, several of us unanimously decided that there was something wrong with the quality of leek, which is the frequent phenomenon of "being wise after the event", and it can also be said that "the wall fell and everyone pushed".

In fact, the "chives" in the scrambled eggs with chives have not all gone bad, otherwise we wouldn't have reached the conclusion that chives have gone bad when we ate two thirds of them. However, once we reach the understanding of * * *, we will involuntarily have an illusion that all leeks have gone bad. At this time, the restaurant owner has two choices. First, the restaurant owner flatly denies our judgment without tasting it, insisting that the quality of leek must be good, and then we will argue for it to "get back to justice"; Secondly, the restaurant owner immediately promised to taste it, and then told us that some leeks did have problems, and proposed to change it or free it, so we wouldn't care about such a trivial matter. At that time, the restaurant owner took a similar approach to the latter. If you choose the former, it will gradually cause the restaurant to be "cold in front of the door." There are not a few restaurants that have closed down like this.

This seems to have cast a shadow over the whole catering industry. Fortunately, consumers are sometimes forgetful, or they don't know how to choose, because not only street shops will have problems, but also five-star hotels will have problems; Nobody will have problems, and so will international famous brands. Who should consumers trust at this time? Therefore, the whole catering industry should pay attention to these crises, realize that this will be the crisis of the whole industry, think about it from the perspective of consumers, and make necessary reflection and improvement from the root. Of course, this is actually to find a healthy development path for the entire catering industry.

palliative: crisis public relations must follow the "Sanming Doctrine"

How should a catering enterprise face and handle these crises? I think we must abide by the "Sanming Doctrine", that is, clear attitude, clear information and clear thinking.

first, the attitude is "clear". The attitude of catering enterprises towards the crisis should be clear, and it should be shown at the first time that no means can be used to escape the crisis. This is the first essence of crisis public relations in catering enterprises. For example, China Yum! Brands actually said in the Statement on the Issue of "Sudan Red No.1": "Although we have repeatedly asked the relevant suppliers of Yum! Brands to ensure that their products do not contain" Sudan Red No.1 "ingredients, we have obtained their written guarantee. However, it is a pity that the ingredient' Sudan Red No.1' was still found in KFC's New Orleans roasted wing and New Orleans roasted chicken leg burger seasoning yesterday. " What kind of attitude is this? Ambiguous? Sophistry? This is obviously to shift all the responsibilities to suppliers in order to divert the attention of the media and consumers. Can the media and consumers be satisfied with such words? Obviously not. After all, it is useless to do so. The management of KFC should first "take care of each other", clearly show its attitude and admit KFC's incompetence in quality supervision, instead of looking for scapegoats to exonerate itself.

For another example, after the crisis of the Romance of Shu, its chairman, Mr. Qu Chuangang, gave such an explanation for "improper operation": the specific method of snail meat refers to the method of Sichuan Cuisine in the third issue of 2116 about the taste of snails. The implication is that this crisis is related to Sichuan Cuisine, and Sichuan Cuisine should bear certain responsibilities. In fact, this statement is exactly the same as KFC, which does not help. Now that Qu Chuangang has publicly apologized to consumers on behalf of the company and expressed his responsibility, there is no need to mention Sichuan Cooking at this time. Even if it is really misled by Sichuan Cuisine, this sentence can not be said now, that is to say, the person, time and occasion who came forward to clarify this point are all wrong. Moreover, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau finally decided to punish the illegal acts that caused Angiostrongylus cantonensis in accordance with the Food Hygiene Law of the People's Republic of China and the Administrative Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China. The fines of Huangsidian and Jinsongdian were RMB 315,541 and RMB 111,184 respectively.

secondly, the information is clear. The information sent by catering enterprises should not be vague and changeable, which makes people suspect or guess. The chain restaurant must indicate which branch it is, so as to reduce the overall damage to the brand, otherwise, it will be very wrong to encounter "Zhu Lian Jiu Zu". For example, Sina Finance concluded that McDonald's had "three changes" in the face of the "French fries crisis": the content of trans fatty acids changed. On February 8, 2116, McDonald's publicly admitted that the content of trans fatty acids that were not conducive to health in each McDonald's French fries increased from 6 grams in the past to 8 grams; Second, the variety of changing oil, McDonald's China Company issued an urgent statement on the evening of February 8, saying that the French fries in McDonald's China mainland restaurant currently use "olive oil". On the morning of February 9, the "olive oil" in the previous statement was changed to "palm oil"; Third, change the ingredients of French fries. In February 2116, McDonald's quietly added the words "containing wheat, milk and gluten" to the company's official website. A week later, McDonald's publicly announced that its French fries contained allergic ingredients. Previously, McDonald's had always claimed that there were no such potential allergens in the French fries sold, and consumers who were allergic to dairy products could eat them with peace of mind. The information sent by McDonald's has lost the "sedate" and "frivolous" that an international brand should have. Inconsistent information can only lead to more doubts and speculations from the public and deepen the crisis.

For another example, according to China Times, in the early period of the Romance of Shu, it was always claimed to compensate patients for misdiagnosis, and later it was claimed that it would not compensate patients for misdiagnosis. The person in charge of the emergency team of the romance of Shu explained to the patient: "We made a mistake in the early stage." The person in charge of the team also said that Angiostrongylus cantonensis had existed for a long time, which caused the patient to be unable to be diagnosed, which was the negligence of the health department. Patients can ask the government and find a hospital. At present, the restaurant only pays part of the compensation for the right medicine, and reports the medical expenses of which hospital it is confirmed to be. This inconsistent "vague" treatment violates the principle of "clear" information, which makes people feel that they are shirking their responsibilities and patients will naturally be more atmosphere. The proper way is that the romance of Shu can communicate and negotiate with relevant hospitals, and then release information after coming up with effective solutions, so as to effectively solve the problem.

thirdly, the thinking is "clear". After the crisis, catering enterprises should not only "show their attitude" and "release information", but also "take care of each other", stand in the position of "victims", have clear thinking, do a good job of "cleaning up" to the maximum extent, protect and comfort the "victims", resolve the "crisis" one by one, and at the same time take effective measures according to the situation of enterprises to avoid the crisis. For example, after the crisis, the Romance Restaurant of Shu took four emergency measures to solve as many problems as possible for the "victims": first, the restaurant assigned a special car to monitor the inpatients around the clock; Second, the staff actively contacted the customers who used cold snail meat in the restaurant from mid-May to August 8 this year to follow up whether there was any abnormality; Third, make obvious hints in the restaurant. Anyone who has eaten snail meat during this period and feels unwell will be sent to the relevant hospital for a comprehensive examination by the company 24 hours a day. 4. Open a 24-hour consultation telephone, with a special person to answer customers' inquiries and contact related matters for consumers. These measures, to a certain extent, reflect the sense of responsibility of a catering enterprise and win the affirmation of consumers and the media. However, the romance of Shu should take further effective measures to completely avoid the recurrence of similar crises.

of course, the above is only an effective strategy to treat the symptoms.

Cure the root cause: strictly implement all-staff brand management

The crisis of catering brands shows that the all-staff brand management model has not been strictly implemented (first initiated and widely promoted by Yuanzhuo brand organization), or the implementation of all-staff brand management has not yet been put in place. In order to minimize the possibility of crisis, catering enterprises must vigorously implement brand management for all employees. This is an effective strategy to cure the problem.

As we all know, the fundamental element of a brand is people. The shaping of a successful brand cannot be accomplished by one person, one department or one brand planning agency independently. It requires the full participation of all employees of catering enterprises, and requires all employees to have brand management awareness and consciously use their own practical actions to serve consumers and maintain the brand image of catering enterprises.

For example, brand building of catering enterprises requires not only first-class chefs, excellent managers and elegant and comfortable environment, but also thoughtful and enthusiastic service and quality control of raw materials. If the romance of Shu thoroughly implemented the brand management of all employees, then this crisis can be avoided to a great extent.

Therefore, only on the basis of strong sense of responsibility and conscious brand awareness in every link of catering enterprises can a catering enterprise avoid the crisis and finally create an excellent brand. Otherwise, the brand image of catering enterprises will lose its foundation for survival and become a passive water and a tree without roots. It is only a matter of time before a crisis occurs.